Taking Chances
by Written Angel
Summary: They never thought they'd meet someone like them, and hoped they never would. But when they meet eachother their glad they did, even if they wish it was under better circumstances. However, their both nervous and scared for eachother well being that is until a secret is brought out into the open. Still neither of them have been known for taking leaps of faith. Movie-verse for now.
1. Chapter 1

_OK, hey, this is my Avengers fanfic (clearly) and the idea to write this popped up in my head the day I saw the Avengers like a week back. But I'm posting this now because I've actually written the first 3 chapters so far and I just saw the Avengers today again. So, I'm able to continue with chapter 4 and once finals are over I should be able to update quickly. Anyway, please read and leave me feedback!_

* * *

Memories plaque her dreams, turning her only escape into the nightmare that was her life. Her daily life isn't much better; filled with having to hide because the constant fear of being found is so great. She trusts no one, for trust is what caused her to be ripped from her family and turned into a monster in the first place.

Although, she had always suspected someone was keeping an eye on her, but the suspicion had been shrugged off and ignored until the day she was found.

It was a rainy day in late summer, and Marina had opted stay in her hideaway rather than venture out into stormy weather for supplies. Suddenly the light creaking of the warehouse door was heard and with a flash of lightning Marina saw it swing shut. She didn't know if it was the other half of her or her own fears but anyone who dared entered her few places of sanctuary was immediately a threat. A low growl was emitted from her throat as she spun to face her intruder.

"Ms. Oswell," a man dressed in black with an eye patch covering one eye said.

"What do you want?" Marina demanded, her form slowly changing as fangs protruded from her mouth.

"I am here to offer you a proposition as well as a guarantee" The man replied.

Marina's eyes narrowed. "What sort of guarantee?"

"You will be protected from the people who, unlike us, wish to use your...abilities for their own purpose."

"And yours happens to be oh-so-much better?" Marina rolled her eyes. "Please do come up with a better lie than that. It will give me some fun when I'm deciphering you truths from tale." She nodded her head. "Tell me what it is you really want and skip the long story. Any lies from that mouth of yours will cost you your vocal cords. Do I make myself clear?"

The man kept eye contact as he reached into his jacket. From it, he pulled out an envelope. "Here," he tossed the folder onto the ground. "Everything you need to know is in there." With that the man turned to walk away when Marina stopped him.

"How can I contact you?"

"Go to the base a few miles outside of the town. Show anyone that stops you this." He tossed her a small flat circle with a star on it which she caught easily. "They'll let you pass." He started to walk away when he stopped. "Oh, and try not to alarm anyone. You can trust these people."

Marina frowned, reaching for the folder. "That's something I don't do."

The man chuckled as he continued walking away. "Better start."

Casting one last glare in the direction the man had gone; Marina sighed and opened the folder.

It was gonna be a long night, and she might as well get started on her reading.

* * *

_So, what did you think? I honestly want to know, reviews make my day that much better! Now, I'm gonna finish my studying so I can start editing the second chapter! Chao!_

_Review, please!_

_~Written Angel_


	2. Chapter 2

_Yeah, chapter two! I am on a role here! By the way, thanks to all of you who read. I was super excited to see that 33 had read within three hours, it really made my day. Don't let me keep you from reading any longer, so carry on!_

* * *

Marina stared down at the giant base she had been told about. The pin clenched tightly in her hand.

_I must be the dumbest person alive. _She thought glancing upward towards the dark clouds that refused to leave.

With a shake of her head, Marina gave leave for her form to shift partially as she began running the last mile to the base. Slowly, her speed increased as she fought to keep control. Two hundred meters from the base, Marina pushed back her other half and contained it causing her body to return to normal just as she reached the base gates. The soldiers standing there barely hand time to react as she flashed the pin in their directions and entered the concrete fortress. Mentally going through the given directions again, Marina followed them to the letter until she ended up on an empty floor of the building. Or so she thought.

"I trust that you will do everything you can to harness the cube's power, Dr. Selvig." The guy from yesterday said.

Marina's ears perked up considerably. Cube? Power? What was this guy up to that required harnessing the power of some cube?

"Of course, Commander Fury." Selvig said, his voice adopting a concerned undertone. "But what about the girl you told me about? What has she to do with Phase Two?"

"Nothing, and I hope it stays that way."

At that, Marina realized Fury and Selvig were coming closer and if she didn't act quickly, she'd be caught eaves dropping. Swiftly, and silently, moving back quite a few paces she made it look as though she had just entered the room when the two men rounded the corner.

"Ah, Ms. Oswell." Fury said stepping forward motioning the cautious man to follow him. "This here is Erik Selvig. He is the scientist who works on our higher level projects. Dr. Selvig this is Marina Oswell; the girl who is much like Dr. Banner."

"Ah, yes the Hyrbid." Selvig took a step forwards and held out his hand. With the other he pointed towards her head. "It's very nice to meet you. That's a lovely pair of aurcile you have. Ears, I mean."

Marina did her best to appear indifferent to one of the side effects of the testing done on her and brushed off the comment. Reaching out, she shook his hand before quickly pulling it away. Minimal contact was for the better. "It's nice to meet you too, Dr. Selvig." She tried to keep the disdain at his proffesion from leaking into her voice.

Selvig chuckled lightly. "Please, call me Erik, and as much as I'd love to continue talking to you, I have a lab to get back to and I believe Fury has been wanting to speak to you."

"Yes, thank you, Selvig." Fury nodded gesturing for Marina to walk with him as he turned to leave.

"Um, bye, uh, Erik." Marina said, the taste of saying someone's first name forgein on her tounge. Of course it was strange, though it almost made her feel like she was wanted. _Almost._

Moving to catch up with Fury, Marina jogged a little until she was able to match the Commander's brisk pace.

"So, have you decided to join SHIELD?" Marina snorted.

"I'm here aren't I?"

Fury spared her a glance as they turned down a series of confusing hallways. "That's not what I am asking, Ms. Oswell. I am asking, are you _prepared _to join SHIELD?"

Marina sighed. She really hadn't given that question much thought because she knew the answer that always had been her answer. No. _No _she didn't want to. _No _she wasn't going to. No, No, No; but finally she had decided to say yes to something and there was no way she was backing out now and returning to running. No matter the consequences, trials, or fears she had to face. She was finally going to say 'no' to running and 'yes' to fighting.

Taking a deep breath, she prayed the right word would slip out of her mouth. Locking eyes with Fury, she opened her mouth,

"Yes."

A fleeting smile graced Fury's face as he opened a door Marina hadn't noticed before. "Welcome to SHIELD, Ms. Oswell."

* * *

The room was bustling with what Marina could only assume to be was SHIELD agents. No one took notice as both her and Fury moved through the crowd towards the agent standing at the center of the hurricane.

"Agent Coulson." Fury said cathcing the shorter man's attention. "This is Marina Oswell. I am placing her under your care and jurisdiction. Make sure she gets placed through everything that needs to be done."

Coulson nodded as he stepped around Marina. "Ms. Oswell, if you'd follow me please."

Marina flipped her gaze between the two men; both had begun walking away indifferent directions. With a huff, she ran after the less scary one.

"Hey, um-uh...Coulson! Hey, Agent Coulson, wait up!" Coulson truned around watching as the petite girl caught up to him. Once she had, they started walking again. "So, what does Fury mean when he said I am 'under your care and jurisdiction', hmm?"

"What it means, Ms. Oswell, is that I am to help you adjust to being here at SHIELD as well as keeping you out of harms way and making sure everything required for you being here at SHIELD."

Abruptly, Marina stopped walking and frowned. "First off, I don't need your protecting. I'm doing a fine job of that on my own. Secondly, what _is _everything I'm required to do?"

Coulson sighed. "It's a bunch of tests and training. We're also going to need some information on you seeing as our current information is...lacking."

"Basically what you're saying then, is that I'm going to become a lab experiement?" Her voice was rising as she tried to keep her self calm. Now was not the time to go Hybrid. There was too many people in too small of a space.

"No, not a lab experiment. We want to find out what is inside of you so we can help you control it. I will be overseeing every test personally and you will have the best doctor-"

"No!" Marina slammed her fist against the closest wall, creating a dent. Coulson didn't jump even though Marina winced at her uncontrolled other half. Taking a deep breath she pushed the thought of running away out of her mind. "No, I-I want...Erik."

Coulson was clearly as surprised as she was with what just came out of her mouth. "Selvig?"

"Mhmm." Marina nodded, deciding to go with it. "Besides, he's the only one of you people that I've seen so far with a personality."

He nodded. "Alright, I'll ask Fury."

Coulson started to walk again when Marina spoke one more time. "One last thing..." Coulson stopped. "You got anything I can cover these with?" She pointed to her ears and Coulson chuckled.

"Come with me."

* * *

_Whew. This one took awhile cause it turned out I had to rewrite more than I originally planned, but I gotta say, I liked the way it turned out. OK, so next chapter is the last chapter before I start with the movie and it's gonna be a lot of (I'm not sure yet cause I gotta rewrite it now) rolled up into one chapter, so please bare with me! But back to the present, what did you guys think of this chapter? Please let me know, cause hearing all of your guys's opinions means the world to me. (Ok not literatley, but it's till important). SO, please review!_

_~Written Angel_


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow, this took me a VERY long time to write. Well, not exactly because it took me an hour or two to write this version of the chapter and I've been staring at for quite a while. But now it's done (albeit at 1, almost, 2 in the morning) and I can finish up chapter for. Hopefully it will be updated much faster considering part of the chap is already typed up. OH well, I've kept you all from this chapter long enough so go read while I go to sleep! Oh, by the way, special thanks to __**Kuzzican**_ _for the awesome review and the inspiration for this chapter! (sorry there's no Clint though) But this chapter is basically a bit of a development in Selvig's and Marina's relationship for, you know, future purposes. ;) Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers (sadly), only Marina._

* * *

Half an hour later saw Marina in her (temporary) SHIELD uniform that was far too tight and clingy for her tastes, not that they mattered of course, as she waited for Coulson and Fury to finish talking. On occasion, a SHIELD agent would walk by giving her a curious once over making her feel uncomfortable as she would continuously pull the jacket hood to cover her face.

_What is taking so long? _ Marina wondered crossing her arms in a huff.

Leaning back, so she hear their hushed conversation better, Marina closed her eyes just as a barely familiar set of footsteps reached her ears.

"Marina?" Selvig asked, stopping to look at the girl. She was clearly uncomfortable, and the jacket she was wearing to hide her ears nearly dwarfed her in size. "What are you doing out here?"

Opening her eyes, Marina gave a shrug, "I'm waiting for Agent Coulson to finish talking to Fury."

"Phil?" He rolled his eyes. "If I know anything about that man, he'll be in there for _at least_ an hour." Marina huffed.

"Well that sucks. I've barely managed sitting here for the past five minutes, how on earth am I gonna last an hour?"

Silence spread between the pair as each were occupied with their own thoughts. Casting a glance at the small girl, Selvig couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he took her along with him while Phil continued his conversation. Surely they wouldn't mind too much, and if they did, he doubted Fury could find another astrophysicist trustworthy enough to work on phase two. Not to mention he already knew so much….

"Marina…" Selvig started before drifting off.

Marina's eyes shot to his. "Yes?"

"How-how would you like it if I should you around SHIELD?" Her eyebrows disappeared in her unruly brown hair.

"You mean it?" Selvig kept back a chuckle at the slight childish excitement that slipped into her voice. Immediately, a light blush crossed her features as she struggled to maintain her integrity. "I mean if it isn't too much of a hassle 'cause you know, I've got nothing to do for the next hour…"

This time he did laugh. "No hassle at all my dear."

Reaching down, Selvig pulled Marina to her feet and tucked on of her hands in the crook of his elbow, something one will pick up after spending enough time with a certain demigod. Marina almost pulled away at the unexpected contact but with an encouraging look from Erik, she allowed herself to be led around the massive base of SHEILD.

* * *

"And this is my lab." Selvig said as the glass door slid open.

It had taken much persuasion and reassurance to convince Marina his lab was perfectly safe and nothing like a doctor's lab or the medical bay. Of course she had still been a bit reluctant when they were nearing the room, but as soon as they had entered, Selvig could tell she was glad she had agreed in seeing it. Her face light up at the advance technology in the room that she had clearly never seen. Like a little child stepping into a candy shop for the first time, Marina moved cautiously as if afraid that one wrong move would cause this new found experience to vanish. Lightly she stepped up to one of the computers and tapped the screen. Immediately, the screen sprang to life eliciting a small squeak from Marina. With a laugh, Selvig moved to stand beside her.

"This is one of SHIELD's high tech computers. This version is saved for top projects and scientists." Marina gave him a slightly confused expression. "Only geniuses like me can have them." His tone joking as it got the desired reaction.

Marina laughed for possibly the first in years. She didn't know what it was about Selvig that she found she liked, but having someone not tip-toe around her was a nice change of pace. Not to mention he had a personality unlike all the other SHEILD agents they had passed during their tour.

"How does it work?" Marina asked, curious about the object she had only seen when she was captured.

Selvig rubbed the back off his neck. "Well it's…um…here." He moved to stand on the other side of the screen. "You know how a computer work right?"

Marina nodded. She got the gist of how it worked having seen them used multiple times.

"OK, well, this is a touch screen. There are three basic systems used to recognize when a person is touching the screen. The first is the resistive system; which consists of two layers. The normal glass panel covered in a conductive and the resistive metallic layer. Now both layers are held apart by spacers, little-"

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Marina was storing away this information. Of course she knew she'd never be able to fully grasp the concept of _how_ a touch screen works, but it awakened a small part of her mind she didn't know existed.

She wanted to _know_.

For some reason every word that came out of Erik's mouth fascinated her and made her want to learn as much as she could, which was odd considering the one thing she hated more than her family when she was younger, was school and learning. But now she wished to see the world from a new angle, and discover things for herself.

"And so, all three systems work together in order for the screen to register you're touch. See?" Selvig reached up and tapped a few things on the screen as Marina nodded in understanding. "Alright, you give it a try."

Hesitantly, Marina copied Selvig's movements as she tapped the screen. As time continued to move around the pair in Selvig's lap, Marina found herself slowly becoming attached to the astrophysicist, and a part of her thought maybe she could learn to trust again, starting with a certain Erik Selvig.

However, at that current moment, two men were watching the security feed.

"Sir, are you sure letting her hang around Dr. Selvig is a good idea?" Coulson asked without looking at his superior.

"There's a chance it might do more damage than good, but I have a hunch it will work in our favor." Fury replied moving away from the monitor. "Let her stay with Selvig awhile, but when I want you to gain her trust as well, so she will also be loyal to us and may even allow some testing to be done, but once Selvig gets more into phase two, I want her moved to the Helicarrier. Is that clear, Agent Coulson?"

Coulson tried to refrain from sighing and arguing with Commander Fury. Pushing his opinion back, he gave a curt nod, "Yes, Sir."

_What do you think? I hope Selvig doesn't seem to ooc, but if he does PLEASE let me know! Oh, and please leave a review anyways!_

_Gracias!_

_~Angel_


	4. Chapter 4

_Alright, so this chapter actually starts with the movie now but it's only the first piece. I was going to skip over to the next part originally but I felt like this chapter was important. A little dramatic (in my opinion) as Marina makes a rather grown up decision for someone who was taken at eight and has been running for a very long time. I'd tell you more but that would ruin it, so hurry up and read! But don't forget to review!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Avenger, but I do own Marina._

* * *

Something bad was happening.

Marina didn't know what of course, but the unnerving feeling in the back of her skull had kept her awake that night.

Stumbling out of her bed, she grabbed the earpiece sitting on the bedside table and clipped it to her ear. Then moving over to stand before the mirror she made sure the unstable molecule clips Selvig had made were still securely held on her ears and working to cloak them. Once certain everything was in place Marina ducked out of her room and headed for the bridge. Upon entering, she found the one person she was looking for was currently missing. With a huff, she walked up the Agent closest to her.

"Hey." Marina said, catching his attention.

"Yes?"

"Where's Fury and Hill?"

The Agent blinked, confused, but answered the question. "Director Fury and Agent Hill left not that long ago. Apparently Agent Coulson required his presence at a base. I was only informed of the basics, ma'am."

Nodding her head, Marina turned on her heel and scrambled to climb into the little alcove near the ceiling; if she learned anything from the male assassin it was to find a spot where you can see everyone yet no one could see you. Swinging over the rail, her eyes scanned every computer for any sign of what could be happening. When she saw nothing, a growl left her mouth as she pressed a finger to the earpiece.

"Damn it, Clint! What's going on down there?" She demanded having decided to ask the one person who was seeing everything.

There was a pause before a wry chuckle was heard. _"You've been hanging around me too much. I don't think Selvig's gonna like that."_ Clint responded, allowing Marina to relax ever so slightly.

"Just answer the question."

"_Ok, ok, geez...well from what can see it seems as though the scientists are losing control of the cube; almost as though it's being tampered with."_

"Is it someone on our side?" Marina asked, hoping it wasn't Selvig.

Clint sighed. _"Relax; it isn't Selvig or anyone on our side for that matter. Everyone's clean at least as far as I can tell. If there is any tampering it wasn't on this end."_

Marina sighed. She was familiar with Clint's doorway analogy and even agreed with him, no matter how much she wished it wasn't true.

"_Fury's here…should I keep you posted?" _Clint asked.

With a huff she nodded. "Yeah, open up communications. I want to hear everything that goes on in that room."

There was a light click and a small chuckle. Marina could practically see Clint smirking. _"Yeah, no one does that better than you."_

"_Agent Barton, report." _Fury's voice entered into the conversation.

Stilling her breath, Marina waited for things to continue.

"_I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."_

"_Oh, I see better from a distance."_

"_Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?"_

There was a pause and woman's voice sounded in the background.

"_No one's come or gone. Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there's any tampering, sir, it wasn't on this end."_

"_On this end?"_

"_Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space right?" He paused, most likely for dramatic effect. "Doors open from both sides."_

Suddenly there was a loud explosion and Marina could hear the cube activating. For a while everyone was silent until Fury spoke,

"_Sir, please put down the spear."_

"Clint, what's happening?" Marina's voice rose up an octave as the sound of things exploding entered her ear.

"_Ugh." _Came Clint's voice.

"_You have heart." _ A new voice very close to Clint said.

"Clint?" Marina asked worriedly. "Clint who's that? What did they do to you?"

Clint didn't respond and instead the communications link was just off. Growling in frustration, she switched channels and began to listen through Fury's com.

"_Loki?" _Selvig said. _"Brother of Thor?"_

Marina stopped. _Loki? Thor's brother? The god of Thunder Selvig had so fondly told her about? And Loki, the god of Mischief and Lie who had tried to take over his father's kingdom? Why did he come here? I thought he was supposed to be dead! _Marina's head swum with questions. All without answers; resulting in a massive headache for the girl.

Things began happening rather quickly. She could hear all that was going on but her brain was having trouble registering any of it. Before she knew it, things had come to an end and Fury was speaking. She could hear the graveness in his voice, and slowly, she managed to sort out the chaos of her mind. Barton and Selvig were compromised. Loki had the Tesseract. And they were at war.

Sniffling, Marina suddenly found herself attacked by emotions she hadn't felt in years and tears began making their way down her face.

Eric. The man had taught her so much more than she thought she'd be able to learn, took her under his wing and made her feel as though she had, no _did_ belong. And with Clint, despite their immediate disliking of each other, after spending so many days in his "nest" because Eric was too busy working and didn't want her to get in the way, they had managed to form a bond of sorts even when he found out about her ears.

Gritting her teeth, she refused to succumb to them as she wiped furiously at her face. Neither Eric nor Clint would want her crying at a time like this. She had to be strong. She had to help. She wasn't about to sit back and do nothing but run and hid like she had for the past eleven years.

Determination flooded Marina's system as she stood up in her alcove.

The memory of first entering SHIELD came forth in her mind and suddenly she was glad she had agreed to join. She met people that she could trust and befriend. She was able to be control the storm of animal instincts, abilities, inside of her that had become known as Hybrid when she "suited up" and could manipulate the form into the smaller basic body of a wolf that allowed her to communicate effectively with Hybrid.

Of course that really hadn't been _fighting_ as more like _training_, and now was the time to put those skills to use.

Now she was gonna start fighting; for Eric, for Clint, for her family, for the world, for herself. And,

For freedom.

* * *

_So how did you like it? Honestly, I loved right the last part because all I can think is; Yea! You go girl! But that's just me, and I'm wondering how many of you had the same opinion. Yes? No? Please tell me because I _know_ for a fact that there are a lot of you reading this and I know it's kind of a hassle to leave a review, but PLEASE LEAVE ONE! The really make my day and inspire me to keep writing! So, please leave one, I'll give you virtual cookies in return. But seriously, I don't care if it's one word or a freaking essay (which does include flames cause I prefer to look at them as critism which I am majorly open to)! Just please leave one!_

_Thank you! Hope you like it!_

_~Angel_


	5. Chapter 5

_Whoo! Chapter 5! I am on a role if I do say so myself! Thank you to all who read and or just started reading. I hope you've been enjoying this so far! Make sure to tell me what you think afterwards._

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything but Marina and the plot _

* * *

Marina had been up the rest of the night going over everything she had heard and trying to fill in as many missing blanks as she could. Of course, by the time Hill and Coulson had returned, she hadn't gotten very far.

She had heard their plane before it had landed on the Helicarrier, giving her sufficient time to make it through the vents to the bridge. Reaching upwards, she pulled off the vent covering and climbed into the tight space. Moving quickly, she crawled through the vent to the opening above the debriefing area. The covering landed on the table with a clatter as she followed behind. Picking up the momentarily discarded square and put it back in its space just as the two agents entered the bridge.

"Coulson, Hill." Marina said, receiving a nod from the two people in return.

"I need to debrief you on some things before I give you your mission." Ah, yes, always straight to the point with Coulson.

Marina cocked her head and her ears flattened to complete her begging look, even though they couldn't be seen. "Does that mean I have to get off the table?"

"It's not like you listen unless you absolutely have to." Coulson said; he handed her one of SHIELD's high-tech computers.

"I'm offended!" She covered the area above her heart with one hand as she set up the computer with the other. "I hear everything that is said-I just tend not to follow it unless necessary."

Coulson chuckled lightly. "Of course, but that means you should know what happened last night and I won't need to debrief you."

"Now you insult me." Marina clicked her tongue, quickly going through the computer files. Stopping at one in particular, her eyebrows shot up before furrowing. "The Avengers initiative? I thought this was shut down last year."

"Not quite. Fury is merely gathering them together because he believes they will be able to find the Tesseract, and if need be, save the Earth. Though we all hope it doesn't travel that far."

"You're already at war, so you're kind of asking for it." Marina muttered too quiet for Coulson to hear. Lifting her gaze from the screen she shot him a questioning glance. "Where do I come into all of this?"

Coulson moved closer to her and moved the computer slightly. "If you look towards the bottom," He flicked the screen downwards so her picture popped up. "You've been added to the initiative; but for _now_, we need you to go with Agent Romanov to get the 'Big-guy' just in case something happens."

"I get it. Send the raw instinct to protect." Marina frowned. "But why would I need to help in getting Stark? The man likes me ten times more than Romanov _and_ he likes Hybrid. So, why is she coming?"

"No, I've got Stark. You two are getting the '_Big_-guy'."

Before she could reply, Coulson wiped out his phone and was already dialing some number as he walked away. Scrolling up the screen, Marina tapped on the Hulk's file, only to be shock by what she saw. Of course she _knew_ she shouldn't have been, but this was insane. As she read through the file she couldn't but come to the conclusion that his…change was her fault. It had occurred around the time the U.S had found out about what their enemies were creating and, apparently, General Ross wanted a weapon like her of their own.

Hands shaking, Marina closed the computer and set it aside. People like Ross made her sick, and made her, or rather Hybrid; want to rip them to shreds. Closing her eyes, she banished those thoughts from her mind as she took deep and calming breaths. Needing a distraction, she tuned into Coulson's conversation with Black Widow.

"_Where's Barton now?" _Romanov said and Marina involuntarily flinched. No, this was no time for emotions to get out of control.

"We don't know."

"_But he's alive?"_

"We think so. I'll brief you on everything we know when you get back. I'm sending Oswell with you. You two get the 'Big-guy'."

"_Coulson, you know that Stark'll trust me about as far as he can throw me." _Marina laughed. She knew that was right. "_But _why_ is Oswell coming?"_

"You'll meet her when the jet picks you up. As for Stark, I got him. You two get the _'Big-_guy'." He shut his phone and turned to Marina. "Go get on the plane, it's leaving in a few minutes."

Marina waved her head as she hopped off the table. "Yea, yea, no need to tell me twice. Though do say hi to Tony for me, and remind him to grab me suit if he's finished it."

"Of course," Coulson replied just as the door shut behind her.

Sighing, she began jogging towards the hanger. She'd only met Natasha Romanov once and needless to say, the two hadn't gotten along all that great. But for Clint's sake, well, she'd try though she wasn't guaranteeing anything.

* * *

_Alright, I know this chapter is shorter than my other ones, but I felt that it would be best for the story to end this chapter here…even though I really didn't want to. Oh, well! I'll make _sure_ the next chapter is longer. But for now please click that lovely blue button and leave me a review!_

_Chao for now! (I'm sure whether that rhyme was unintentional or not)_

_~Angel_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything but Marina. _

* * *

Natasha sighed as she waited for the Helijet to arrive. The mere _idea_ of being stuck in the same space as Marina Oswell really set her on edge. She already had to go and persuade one person, did she really have to babysit another? She was ready to tear her hair out it just wasn't fair!

Exhaling sharply, Natasha rubbed her temples. _No, Natasha, get a grip on yourself. Just stay on her good side and find some way to keep her distracted. As long as Oswell isn't there, this persuasion should go swiftly and smoothly without failure._

Feeling better with her plan in mind, Natasha relaxed slightly and turned her gaze back towards the sky. Only a few minutes later the black ominous shape of the Helijet entered her field of vision. As it touched down on the ground, the grass wiped around and many of the small animals scattered. Holding her hair back from her face, she waited patiently for the jet door to open.

Once it did, she schooled her expression into a blank mask before walking up the ramp and into the jet.

* * *

Marina had had to keep from laughing as she watched Natasha enter the Helijet. The woman's emotions were far more amusing than she remembered; and while Natasha's expression was her normal blank one, Marina could easily see her conflicting emotions, courtesy of Hybrid. _Narrowed eyes and slight furrowing of brows means she's frustrated and confused by my presence; deep breaths indicating she's determined to keep her cool, and there's a light scent of fear…and a rather nice perfume…huh, didn't think she indulged herself._

Done with her mental emotional breakdown of the assassin, Marina opened her mouth to speak but the redhead beat her to it.

"Why are you here?" Why did she get the feeling this would be the question of the day?

"As a precaution," Marina answered simply with a shrug.

"Yes, but _why_?"

"To save the day when you mess up." Natasha's frown deepened.

"The only reason I would mess up is because you won't listen and will get in the way."

It took every living fiber in her body not to snarl. "Look I'll lay low. I'll stay out of your face, you'll stay out of mine and I will _listen _with my little pale ass outside. Does that work for you?" Natasha refrained from sighing.

"I think it's a very good idea."

* * *

Once the Helijet had landed, Marina could barely wait for the door to open. When it did though, she bolted out of the carrier and through the forest where they had landed. Trees and brush assaulted her body as she pushed them aside. Her wild instincts directed each step until she slowed down enough to know that SHIELD was far behind.

Taking a deep breath of open and unpolluted air, Marina rejoiced in the sounds of nature. Oh how she had missed them! From deep within her body, Hybrid released a howl of agreement. Reaching up, Marina took off the unstable molecule clips, getting rid of them and the awful buzzing noise they emitted. Of course she just stuck them into her pocket to prevent Erik from having a field day if he learned she had "lost" them.

Suddenly, Natasha's voice broke through her serenity from the communicator still in her ear.

"_Whenever you're done sight-seeing, we'll be at the SHIELD house on the outskirts of the town." _Natasha said.

With a roll of her eyes, she responded, "Got it and while I'm out _sight-seeing_ I'll be sure to send you the Doc. By the way, when he gets there, don't shoot the kid."

Pulling out the earpiece before Natasha had the chance to reply, Marina tucked the communicator into the pocket of her shorts. Taking one last deep breath, she began to jog towards the town.

_It's gonna take me at least an hour if not more to find the Doc and then convince a kid to take him to the house. _Marina thought as scenery once again became blurred. After a few minutes she reached the city. Immediately; sights, sounds, and smells bombarded her senses. Biting back a groan she face palmed. _What did I just sign myself up for?_

* * *

_Alright I _know _it's really short but I just wanted to get a chapter out there (since it's been like forever). And this one happens to be more filler. Hopefully the next one will be longer and sooner cause I shouldn't be doing anything for the next week…I think. But I'll try, I definitely will. Ok, that's enough blabbing from me. I'm gonna get started on the next chapter and YOU should tell me what you think, k?_

_~Angel_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, only Marina and the little girl's family_

_The night life in this city is insane._ Marina officially decided.

* * *

The streets were packed as she walked among them. Around her, some of the buildings were in terrible shape and seemed to be crumbling with each passing second. Vendors set up shop just about everywhere with food that tempted the stomach and artifacts that tempted the eyes. Though the deeper she went into the lower city, the less the enchanting atmosphere of the upper city could sway her escalated senses.

Good portions of the people smelled from where they sat in alleys and just as many looked sick with disease. Pity washed over Marina as she realized even when she had been running for all those years, she had been far better off. Atop her head, the hood of her jacket fell over her face as her ears drooped. Shoving her hands in her pockets she continued walking forward.

Suddenly, someone ran into her.

Out of reflex, Marina grabbed the figure and steadied herself after the impact. Looking down she saw it was a small girl with long black hair and a tan and green dress. The girl looked up at Marina, her eyes slightly widened with tears threatening to spill over.

"Please!" She cried tugging on Marina's hand. "_Please!"_

Slightly confused, Marina let the girl lead her forward. The girl led her through many alleys and streets until they came to a stop in front of a house. If it could be called that. The girl ran forward and ducked under the cloth covering the doorway. Cautiously, Marina followed and found the girl leaning over a smaller boy who was coughing badly.

"Doctor! He need doctor!" She cried in poor English.

Looking around, Marina realized this was where the good doc had been hiding over the past year. The smells of medicine, a little antiseptic and some old blood stung her nose. Glancing down at the girl, Marina sighed and nodded.

Sniffing the air, Marina walked over to a cabinet to revel many medicine bottles. Each one giving off a slightly different scent that filled her nose. Antiseptic, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Vicodin, Hydrocodone, and many others. Below the cabinet, a worn brown book caught her attention. As she picked it up and opened it Marina realized Banner had used the book as a journal of sorts and a way to categorize the diseases in Kolkata. Quickly flipping through the book and listening to the boy's body, she found what she was looking for and began comparing the medicine bottles with the words in the book.

"I got it!" She cried, grabbing the bottles and hurrying back over to the girl and her brother. Opening the bottles she dumped out the appropriate capsules and handed them to the boy. Realizing he was going to need water, Marina reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out the mini water bottle she always kept with her. "Take those and drink this."

Before Marina could demonstrate what she was saying the boy nodded and did as instructed. Between drinks of water he said, "Our father teach us English. So, I understand most what you say."

Marina nodded. "I see…can I ask a favor of your sister?"

The boy nodded. "You help us we help you now." Marina smiled lightly before taking a deep breath and asking her favor.

* * *

Medina and Abdul, as Abdul had introduced them, had agreed to Marina's favor rather quickly eager to help and without many questions. So as Medina ran off to the place where Marina remember she'd unwittingly caught a whiff of the doctors scent, Marina carried Abdul via piggy back as he gave her directions to his home. Along the way Medina caught up and Abdul explained that not only did his sister love to run but the doctor's house was much father from their house than the "Her" house.

When the little group reached their destination, Marina couldn't help but smile at the reunion of parents and children. A few memories flashed through her mind yet she wouldn't allow them to deter her good mood. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the medicine she had given Abdul earlier.

"Here," she said, handing them to the father. "The amount of what he needs is on the back and make sure he drinks lots of water."

The father took the medicine. "We cannot thank you enough for this. We are forever indebted-"

Marina held up her hand, a memory of Eric that entered mind. "Knowing he'll be ok is thanks enough, and there is no need for you to repay me in any way. It's only right to take care of those in need." The man smiled as Marina turned to go.

"Either way, be sure to stop in and say hello sometime."

A sliver of gratefulness rose in her chest. "Of course, I promise."

* * *

_[Author's Note]_

_Alright I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile and to be honest I've had this chapter ready for about a week, so I am pretty embarrased. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story, it was more filler and character development than anything and next chap will have some Bruce x Marina action so I'm excited (even though i haven't started writing yet). Ok, um, tell me what you like and if you feel I'm ever gone for to long hit me up with a review or a PM and let me know, k?_

_READ AND REVIEW! :D_

_Angel_


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